Hari Aum.
As Rama navami, the celebration of the birthday of Sri Rama, is coming up at the end of this month, I thought it would be good to reflect upon His life and teachings. As many of you would know, Rama is an avatar of Narayana. His name is one of the most beloved and popular mantras (that is said to have existed even before the avatar) and many Gurus since time immemorial have praised it and recommended it to their disciples for regular recitation.
One of the first people to recommend the recitation of the mantra 'Rama' to somebody was a sage known as Narada. Many of you would be familiar with the name of this sage; he is a great devotee of Narayana and is said to travel freely within the various material realms of the universe reciting the names of the Divine. He is regarded as a talented musician and plays the veena (a beautiful string instument).
Narada is known to have provided spiritual guidance to many a person in distress (these stories are described in the ancient scriptures known as the Puranas) and the main spiritual practice that he recommends is recitation of the names and mantras of the Divine. Here I would like to describe the legend of one person who Narada helped-- a person who came to be known as Valmiki.
Valmiki is regarded as a great sage in his own right. He composed the 'Ramayana', an exquisitely beautiful poem that describes the life of Lord Rama. It is said that he was granted a special spiritual vision that enabled him to see the entire life of Rama so that he could describe this. He also met Sri Rama and played an important part in His Lila.
The sage Valmiki was not always a sage. His story is one of the most inspiring ones in terms of spiritual transformation. It demonstrates the efficacy of the recitation of the names and mantras of God. It is often narrated by many Gurus to encourage people to take up mantra japa (Sivananda too has written of this story). Many of you may know the story of Valmiki already, but for those who do not yet know, I will describe it here as I find it truly inspiring.
Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, in a dense forest, lived a man known as 'Ratnakar'. Ratnakar was a criminal. He had been raised in a family of hunters. After growing up and getting married, he had had a number of children. He found it difficult to maintain his family through hunting alone, and therefore turned to crime.
Over time, he became well-known as a fearsome criminal, a man who would steal the riches of passing merchants and wealthy people, and if necessary, kill them in the process. He wandered about the forest every day armed with weapons looking for new victims. He became quite a successful criminal and his wife, children and parents enjoyed a comfortable life as a result.
One day, as Ratnakar was searching for someone to rob, he encountered the sage Narada. The sage was walking down a forest path, playing his veena and merrily singing the names of Narayana. The robber suddenly emerged from the bushes and told the sage to stop and hand over all his wealth. He threatened to put him to death immediately if he did not comply.
Narada, who had been immersed in his own world of spiritual thoughts, was surprised by the sight of Ratnakar. He honestly told the man that the only material possession that he had was his veena. He explained that his main wealth was, in fact, the name of Narayana (and this was a wealth that was freely available to all; there was no need to kill him to obtain this!). He said that Ratnakar could have the veena if he wished.
The thief was not interested in owning a veena (which he regarded as a worthless instrument). He was, however, taken aback by the composure of the sage in the face of being threatened with death. He was also mystified by the sage gazing kindly and affectionately at him (as this was not usual for his victims!).
Ratnakar asked the sage how it was that he was unafraid of death. Narada replied saying that he recited the names of Narayana and saw Him alone everywhere; what then was there to be afraid of? The robber thought that this did not make much sense and was about to walk off in disgust when the sage suddenly asked him a question in return.
"O Ratnakar" said Narada, "I would now like to ask you a question. You know you have committed many crimes and there will be a price to pay for this in accordance with the divine law of karma. Why then do you do this?"
Ratnakar turned and looked at him. "O sage", he said, "I have a family to feed. My wife, children and aged parents depend upon me. I am merely doing my duty as a family man to look after all of them".
"Really?" said Narada. "As your family are enjoying the spoils of your crimes, I wonder whether they will also partake of the punishment that will be meted out to you in the future. For the consequences of the crimes you have committed against humanity will be great indeed."
Ratnakar laughed "O sage", he said, "You are a wandering ascetic, therefore perhaps you do not know much of family life. Let me tell you that my family are all extremely dear to me and I am very dear to them. They are loyal to me and I am loyal to them. Each one of them would gladly partake of any punishment that may be meted out to me in the future."
"We follow the motto 'one for all, and all for one'", he added proudly.
"Wonderful!" said the sage. "You are most fortunate. However, there is no harm in confirming this with your family, as it is so important. After all, you would be in dreadful trouble if they refuse to help you!"
Seeing Ratnakar look at him in surprise, Narada said, "I will wait here. Why don't you go and talk to your family and find out?"
"All right, I will" said Ratnakar, feeling sure of the answer that he would receive. "I will show you, O sage, that you were wrong to doubt my family".
He then went off to his home which was not very far away and the first person he encountered was his wife who was busy with household chores.
Ratnakar addressed her, "My dearest wife! I met a rather odd man in the forest just now! He seems to be a sage of some sort. He warned me that I would have to face suffering in the future as a result of the many crimes that I have committed to maintain my family."
"He also told me to ask if you would be willing to share a portion of this suffering with me as I do all of this only for you. My most beloved wife! Naturally, I said that I was in no doubt that you would share in my sorrows, as you share in my joys!"
Ratnakar's wife looked at him in surprise.
"Dear husband", she said, "What is this? You know very well that I have been a dutiful wife to you, and that I am a devoted mother to our children. Day and night, I toil and labour only for the sake of all of you. My future will be determined only by my own karma, why should it be determined by yours?"
She continued, saying, "I never told you to rob and kill people, that was entirely your decision! Naturally, as a husband and father, it is your duty to provide for your family. How you choose to do that is up to you! I cannot take any responsibility for your actions. I find it very unfair that you wish me to take on your negative karma and I will certainly not do any such thing!"
"Now, if you will excuse me," she said, "I need to go and perform my duties in the house. Lunch will not cook itself!" With these words, she swept off and disappeared from sight.
Ratnakar was completely devastated and shocked upon hearing these words from his beloved. "How could she be so cruel and unfeeling?! I wrongly thought that she would stand by me no matter what, what a dreadful mistake!" he thought.
"Never mind", he consoled himself, "My parents will help me. Nobody loves us as much as our parents". Speaking thus, he approached his elderly parents who were sitting and drinking a herbal brew.
"Dear mother, dear father", he began, and told them the same thing that he had told his wife. "I know you will always stand by your beloved son and share in the suffering I must face" he concluded.
To his dismay, his parents also looked at him in astonishment.
"Dear son", they said, "We did our duty and raised you to be a hunter as is the tradition in our family. We never asked you to turn to crime. It is your duty to care for us as your aged parents. You are a grown man now, and it is not our place to tell you what to do! It is up to you to make your own decisions and maintain your family as you see fit. We cannot take any responsibility for your actions. Your karma is your business entirely! Our future will only be determined by our own karma."
Ratnakar was appalled to hear his own parents speak in this way. Sadly, he turned away, and approached his beloved children. "Surely they will help their own father!" he thought.
However, unfortunately for him, this was not the case.
"O father", they said, "We have our entire lives ahead of us, and our future will be determined by our own actions. How can we be responsible for the crimes that you have committed?! We are only children. You are our father, and you have a duty to care for us. We are sorry but we cannot share your negative karma!".
Ratnakar felt completely crestfallen at these words from his family. "I thought they were all loyal to me", he thought, "but they have now revealed their true colours. In truth, they think only of themselves!"
Thus, the robber despondently returned to the waiting sage.
"Well?" said Narada, "What did your family say? Are they all ready and eager to share in your suffering as you had said?".
"No, they are not." said Ratnakar gloomily, "You were right, O sage. They are happy to enjoy the riches that I obtain through crime, but unwilling to have any share in the unpleasant future consequences."
"I do not know what to do! As you said, I am in very great trouble!"
Saying this, and suddenly feeling rather weak, he sat down on the ground holding his head in his hands and shed tears of grief and despair.
Narada sat down next to him and patted him kindly on the back. "There, there" he said, "Don't worry."
"I have a solution for your situation".
Ratnakar looked up hopefully, "Really?" he asked. "You have a solution for all my negative karma?"
"Yes", said Narada, "I do".
"And what is that?" asked Ratnakar.
"It is the name of God. It washes off all negative karma and creates new positive karma. In fact, it takes you to a state beyond all karma, a state of great peace and bliss", said Narada.
Ratnakar looked at him in bewilderment. "How is that possible?" he asked. "How can repeating a mere name wash off the effects of karma?"
Narada smiled. "It is not a mere name that I am going to ask you to repeat, my friend, it is the name of God Himself. The name of God is one with God. It is God Himself. Do you not think that God has the power to wash off all karma? There is none more purifying than Him!"
Ratnakar was unsure about this. However, he did not exactly have many other choices and therefore decided to give it a try.
"All right", he said, "I will try it. I'm willing to try anything at this stage!".
"Very good", said the sage. "This is the name of God that I recommend that you repeat-- it is Rama".
Ratnakar tried to say the word "Rama" but for some mysterious reason, he was unable to pronounce the name. (Some say it was because his mind had committed such heinous crimes, it was unable to even utter the name of God!).
The sage looked sympathetically at him and said, "Ok, if you cannot say 'Rama', can you say the opposite, that is, 'Mara'?" he asked.
"Of course I can!", said Ratnakar, "Mara!" (Mara means killing and death in Sanskrit so it was no wonder that he could pronounce it perfectly!).
"Well done" said Narada. "Now what I want you to do, is sit right here, close your eyes, and say 'Mara' repeatedly without a break. So it will sound like this-- 'MaRaMaRaMaRaMa'. That way, you actually end up saying 'Rama, Rama'!".
"I will be going away now for a while. Stay here and continue repeating the name. Do not move from this spot until I tell you to", said the sage.
"Ok", said Ratnakar obligingly. "Thank you, O sage, you are very kind. You have helped me when nobody else did. I really am most grateful!".
"That's all right" said Narada. "I'm glad to have met you!".
Saying this, the sage went off merrily singing the names of Narayana and playing his veena. Meanwhile, Ratnakar did as instructed. He sat still and repeated 'MaRaMaRaMaRa' many, many times in his mind.
Gradually, after a long period of time, as his mind repeated the two syllables 'MaRa' again and again, it became purified and he entered a state of deep meditation (the state of spiritual liberation known as samadhi). He remained very still in this state enjoying the experience of spiritual peace and joy. He realised his own God nature through the name of Rama.
As he sat still in the forest, various birds and animals looked at him in surprise as they went by but did not disturb him (he was protected by the name of Rama). A group of ants were looking for a suitable spot to build an anthill. They thought that Ratnakar's place of meditation had a nice, peaceful vibration and decided to build one here.
The ants built a large anthill and ended up covering the whole of Ratnakar, so he could no longer be seen! After a long time, sage Narada came looking for him. He noticed the remnants of the anthill in the place where Ratnakar had been sitting.
He broke the anthill open and said "Arise O sage! The time has come for you to re-enter the world!".
Ratnakar opened his eyes and slowly emerged from the anthill. He looked at Narada and the two sages embraced each other in great joy.
"As you emerged from an anthill (known as 'valmikam' in Sanskrit), you shall henceforth be known as 'Valmiki', O sage!", said Narada.
Sage Valmiki bowed and gladly accepted the words of his Guru.
He then lived an austere life as an ascetic in the forest and remained immersed in the bliss of Rama nama. At the appointed time, he was called upon to play a key role in the life of the Rama avatar (who arrived on Earth later) and in composing the Ramayana.
This completes the story of the transformation of Ratnakar into Valmiki through the japa of the wonderful mantra 'Rama', a mantra that has been loved by saints and their disciples for countless centuries and is still loved and recited by many even today.
Om.
Salutations to the great Guru, sage Narada, and his wonderful disciple, sage Valmiki.
Om Sri Ramaya Namah.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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